WhatsApp Answers Government's Username Query
Meta has submitted its formal response on the proposed username feature, which the Centre fears could fuel fraud and impersonation
In response to a notice issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on the proposed feature to add a username to WhatsApp, the company has filed its official reply on Thursday, ahead of the deadline.
The government had sought clarity from Meta in its July 1 notice regarding the utility of bringing action under the IT Act and rules against the feature, which it alleged could lead to cybercrime. The idea behind this feature is simple: users on the messaging platform would be able to communicate without having to share their phone numbers.
The Government's Concerns
Their objections have been based on a specific category of fraud that is getting worse. The Centre stated because of its concerns that the feature could be a "material contributor" to the rise in online fraud, phishing digital-arrest scams and impersonation attacks, it has requested that WhatsApp wait for consultations until the government requires it.
It's not just WhatsApp that's under regulatory eyes. MeitY has also issued analogous notifications to Telegram and Signal on the same day, seeking clarifications regarding the measures taken by them to prevent risks like impersonation, identity theft, phishing and digital fraud in user based messaging.
The ministry will look into the bigger picture after receiving responses from both platforms, said IT Secretary S. Krishnan in his remarks at the CII GCC Business Summit, adding that he had also sent such notices to Telegram and Signal but neither platform had responded.
WhatsApp's Safeguards
Before its rollout, WhatsApp has announced the following protections in advance. The company claims it has protected usernames belonging to public figures, government entities, celebrities and verified Meta accounts, that usernames that sound similar to those of users are blocked, and that the only way to message someone for the first time is to know their real username, not just their display name.
Other friction points are also scheduled. WhatsApp plans to limit the number of new people someone can message, block repeated attempts at sending and receiving a guess, implement system to detect suspicious behaviour and provide additional context before the user responds to a new username, such as if the person is a saved contact, belongs to a group, has a new account or is attempting to message from another country.
What Comes Next
The text of WhatsApp's reply has not been made public and the officials are now carefully going through WhatsApp's reply to determine whether the feature can be allowed in India.
The stakes are high for Meta as India is the platform's biggest user base in the world. Neither Telegram nor Signal is responding to parallel notices and, therefore, any regulatory action that is likely to be taken will probably be universal in terms of messaging service, rather than WhatsApp.